Energy landscape of clathrate hydrates

Clathrate hydrates are nanoporous crystalline materials made of a network of hydrogen-bonded water molecules (forming host cages) that is stabilized by the presence of foreign (generally hydrophobic) guest molecules. The natural existence of large quantities of hydrocarbon hydrates in deep oceans and permafrost is certainly at the origin of numerous applications in the broad areas of energy and environmental sciences and technologies (e.g. gas storage). At a fundamental level, their nanostructuration confers on these materials specific properties (e.g. their ??glass-like?? thermal conductivity) for which the host-guest interactions play a key role. These interactions occur on broad timescale and thus require the use of multi-technique approach in which neutron scattering brings unvaluable information. This work reviews the dynamical properties of clathrate hydrates, ranging from intramolecular vibrations to Brownian relaxations; it illustrates the contribution of neutron scattering in the understanding of the underlying factors governing chemical-physics properties specific to these nanoporous systems.     

Dynamical properties of water in living cells

With the aim of studying the effect of water dynamics on the properties of biological systems, in this paper, we present a quasi-elastic neutron scattering study on three different types of living cells, differing both in their morphological and tumor properties. The measured scattering signal, which essentially originates from hydrogen atoms present in the investigated systems, has been analyzed using a global fitting strategy using an optimized theoretical model that considers various classes of hydrogen atoms and allows disentangling diffusive and rotational motions. The approach has been carefully validated by checking the reliability of the calculation of parameters and their 99% confidence intervals. We demonstrate that quasi-elastic neutron scattering is a suitable experimental technique to characterize the dynamics of intracellular water in the angstrom/picosecond space/time scale and to investigate the effect of water dynamics on cellular biodiversity.     

Electron waiting times in mesoscopic conductors

Electron transport in mesoscopic conductors has traditionally involved investigations of the mean current and the fluctuations of the current. A complementary view on charge transport is provided by the distribution of waiting times between charge carriers, but a proper theoretical framework for coherent electronic systems has so far been lacking. Here we develop a quantum theory of electron waiting times in mesoscopic conductors expressed by a compact determinant formula. We illustrate our methodology by calculating the waiting time distribution for a quantum point contact and find a crossover from Wigner-Dyson statistics at full transmission to Poisson statistics close to pinch-off. Even when the low-frequency transport is noiseless, the electrons are not equally spaced in time due to their inherent wave nature. We discuss the implications for renewal theory in mesoscopic systems and point out several analogies with level spacing statistics and random matrix theory.     

中国先进研究堆中子科学平台发展现状及展望

依托中国先进研究堆(CARR)高通量中子源,建成了初具规模的中子科学平台,具备中子散射、中子成像和中子活化分析等多种研究技术。其中,中子散射技术包括中子衍射、小角中子散射及中子反射、非弹性中子散射,可以用于分析材料微观结构和动力学性质;热中子成像和冷中子成像可以用于材料内部缺陷等无损检测;中子活化分析系统可以用于物质内核素成分分析。目前已建成和在建中子谱仪共计19台,并初步配备了样品环境装置,为相关应用研究提供了条件基础,可为我国物理、化学、材料科学、生命科学、能源和环境等领域基础研究及工业应用提供重要技术支撑。CARR中子科学平台始终坚持合作共享对外开放的宗旨,将继续为国内外用户提供优质中子技术,服务基础科学前沿和国家重大创新需求研究。     

Grazing incidence polarized neutron scattering in reflection geometry from nanolayered spintronic systems

This review summarizes recent experimental investigations using neutron scattering on layered nanomagnetic systems (accentuating my contribution), which have applications in spintronics also. Polarized neutron investigations of such artificially structured materials are basically done to understand the interplay between structure and magnetism confined within the nanometer scale that can be additionally depth-resolved. Details of the identification of buried domains and their nature of lateral and vertical correlations within the systems are important. A particularly interesting aspect that has emerged over the years is the capability to measure polarized neutron scattering in directions parallel and perpendicular to the applied field direction (which is also the quantization axis for neutron polarizations). This was added with the capability of measuring in specular as well as in off-specular geometry. Distorted wave Born approximation (DWBA) theory for neutrons has proved to be a remarkable development in the quantitative analysis of the scattering data measured simultaneously for specular and off-specular modes within the same framework. In particular, the depth and lateral distribution of the ferromagnetic spins relative to the interface within interlayer-coupled or exchange-coupled system has been extensive. For example, twisted magnetization state at interlayer coupled interfaces or intricacies of symmetric and asymmetric magnetization reversals along with suppression of training effect in exchange coupled system was microscopically identified using neutron scattering only. The investigation on the distribution of magnetic species within dilute ferromagnetic semiconductor superlattices, with low angle neutron scattering, has played a crucial role both from practical and fundamental research points of view.     

Position and momentum densities. Complementarity at work: refining a quantum model from different data sets

Although Bragg and Compton scattering are well-established techniques, only very few attempts to simultaneously combine information originating from these two experiments have been made so far. This remark also holds for Bragg neutron magnetic combined with X-ray scattering. We propose a quite general procedure to refine a quantum model from different data sets using basic Bayesian probability theory. As an illustration, a qualitative preliminary study to extract chemical information such as charge transfer in ionic-covalent compounds is reported.     

Negative partial density of states in mesoscopic systems

Since the experimental observation of quantum mechanical scattering phase shift in mesoscopic systems, several aspects of it have not yet been understood. The experimental observations have also accentuated many theoretical problems related to Friedel sum rule and negativity of partial density of states. We address these problems using the concepts of Argand diagram and Burgers circuit. We can prove the possibility of negative partial density of states in mesoscopic systems. Such a conclusive and general evidence cannot be given in one, two or three dimensions. We can show a general connection between phase drops and exactness of semi classical Friedel sum rule. We also show Argand diagram for a scattering matrix element can be of few classes based on their topology and all observations can be classified accordingly.     

非弹性中子散射在稀土钙钛矿研究中的应用

中子散射技术在科学研究中应用的重要性、独特性源自于中子本身的一些基本物理特点：带自旋、不带电荷、与原子核直接发生强相互作用、恰当的质量使其色散关系与一般物质内部的原子振动和磁性振动的元激发相当,以及可用于无损探测的强穿透性等。这些特点决定了中子散射探测技术在科学研究中无可替代的重要地位。经过多年发展,中子散射技术已经成为研究凝聚态物理中材料晶体结构以及磁结构的主要手段。此外由于中子的能量与物质中的元激发,如声子,磁振子等能量相当,中子散射也是研究物质动力学性质不可替代的关键技术。对于磁性材料来说,非弹性中子散射不仅可以研究对称性破缺下磁有序相的自旋波激发,而且可以直接探测无对称性破缺情况下的自旋关联。这对于研究磁阻挫等量子磁体中新奇的量子化自旋激发尤其重要。文章将主要介绍两种常用的非弹性散射谱仪,并结合最近在稀土钙钛矿结构体系中的具体应用,尤其是低维稀土自旋链中的分数化自旋子的激发,重点介绍非弹性散射技术的特色。     

高温超导体电子态相图的新认识

简要介绍了高温超导体的电子态相图及最近的一些发展,通过测量高温超导体的抗磁信号,发现在过掺杂的高温超导体中存在着抗磁信号的第二个异常转变,分析发现这个转变可能对应着超导畴之间的耦合场,从而推论高温超导体在过掺杂区可能存在着电荷在介观尺度或宏观尺度上的不均匀,结合国际上非弹性中子散射的数据和超流电子密度的数据,文章作者第一次对电子态相图提出了一个自治的解释,这个结果如果得到其他方面的进一步验证,将对高温超导体机理的理解和更完善模型的建立起到重要指导作用。     

Probing structural relaxation in complex fluids by critical fluctuations

Complex fluids, such as polymer solutions and blends, colloids, and gels, are of growing interest in fundamental and applied soft-condensed-matter science. A common feature of all such systems is the presence of a mesoscopic structural length scale intermediate between the atomic and macroscopic scales. This mesoscopic structure of complex fluids is often fragile and sensitive to external perturbations. Complex fluids are frequently viscoelastic (showing a combination of viscous and elastic behavior), with their dynamic response depending on the time and length scales. Recently, noninvasive methods to infer the rheological response of complex fluids have gained popularity through the technique of microrheology, where the diffusion of probe spheres in a viscoelastic fluid is monitored with the aid of light scattering or microscopy. Here, we propose an alternative to traditional microrheology that does not require doping of probe particles in the fluid (which can sometimes drastically alter the molecular environment). Instead, our proposed method makes use of the phenomenon of “avoided crossing” between modes associated with the structural relaxation and critical fluctuations that are spontaneously generated in the system.     

Scattering approach to backaction in coherent nanoelectromechanical systems

We present theoretical results for the backaction force noise and damping of a mechanical oscillator whose position is measured by a mesoscopic conductor. Our scattering approach is applicable to a wide class of systems; in particular, it may be used to describe point contact position detectors far from the weak tunneling limit. We find that the backaction depends not only on the mechanical modulation of transmission probabilities, but also on the modulation of scattering phases, even in the absence of a magnetic field. We illustrate our general approach with several simple examples, and use it to calculate the backaction for a movable, Au atomic point contact modeled by ab initio density functional theory.     

Spin correlations and a mesoscopic structure in Ni-Mn-Ga

The mesoscopic structures of the Heusler alloys Ni_49.1Mn_29.4Ga_21.5 and Ni₂MnGa are studied by small-angle polarized neutron scattering in the temperature range 15 < T < 400 K. The characteristic temperatures of phase transformations (ferromagnetic, martensitic, and premartensitic transformations) and the characteristic sizes of mesoscopic inhomogeneities in them have been determined. Differences in the spin dynamics of these phases and magnetic-nuclear interference upon neutron scattering have been revealed. The evolutions of the mesoscopic structures in the nonstoichiometric and stoichiometric alloys are found to be substantially different.     

中子散射在磁性材料研究中的应用

中子具有天然磁矩,穿透能力强且对轻元素敏感等独特的优势,是目前研究材料中磁结构最有力的工具。发展中子散射技术对开发新型磁性材料和研究磁性物理机理等方面具有重大意义。文章介绍了几种常用的中子散射技术(如粉末衍射、小角散射、反射等),并通过典型的实例来说明它们在磁性材料研究中的具体应用。针对国内介绍中子反射技术的资料相对较少,尤其是极化中子反射技术在精确定量表征薄膜磁性大小和分布方面的研究极度匮乏的现状,文章重点介绍了这一特色技术以及应用实例。     

Estimation of the cross section of neutron scattering by spin waves in thin ferromagnetic layers

Inelastic neutron scattering by magnetic excitations in thin ferromagnetic films has not been observed so far owing to the small cross section of the interaction of neutrons with spin waves. To increase the probability of inelastic magnetic scattering, it has been proposed to implement three-layer structures in which the neutron wave functions exhibit resonant enhancement in a ferromagnetic layer. The cross section of neutron scattering by spin waves in the regime of the resonant enhancement of the neutron wave function has been estimated.     

Investigation of liquid fluoropolymers as possible materials for low-temperature liquid-wall chambers for ultracold neutron storage

Several hydrogen-free liquid low-temperature fluoropolymers are investigated from the point of view of their possible use as the material for walls of ultracold neutron traps with low losses. Viscosity was measured in the temperature range 150–300 K, and neutron scattering cross sections were measured in the temperature range 10–300 K and in the neutron wavelength range 1–20 Å. Some conclusions are made for their possible ultracold neutron bottle properties. Quasi-elastic neutron reflection from the surface of a viscous liquid is considered in the framework of the Maxwell dynamic model.     

The crossover from atomistic to continuous dynamic symmetry at the magnetic phase transition

It is suggested that the change from Curie-Weiss susceptibility to critical susceptibility has to be identified as crossover from atomistic to continuous dynamic symmetry. At this crossover the correlation length becomes of the order of the near neighbour distance. This enables dynamic percolation for lower temperatures and crossover to continuous symmetry. Continuous dynamic symmetry implies universality, i.e. a temperature dependence that is independent of the atomistic structures. This is in disagreement with the material specific magnon dispersion relations evaluated by inelastic neutron scattering. On the basis of these magnon dispersions the observed universality at the stable fixed point T=0 cannot be explained. Instead a linear dispersion has to be postulated for all magnets. According to Goldstone, Salam and Weinberg (GSW) the quasi particles of this linear dispersion are non-interacting and massless. No interaction between the quasi particles requests that they have no magnetic moment and, as a consequence, must be spin compensated, in a similar way as is known from the Cooper pairs of superconductivity. Observation by neutron scattering therefore is impossible. The magnetic specific heat provides, so far, the only indirect access to the hypothesized spin-less magnetic quasi particles. We investigate experimental data of the ferromagnet EuS as a simple model material.     

Small-angle neutron scattering investigation of the nanostructure of the SAV-1 alloy irradiated with fast neutrons to high fluences

The supra-atomic structure in samples of the SAV-1 alloy (unirradiated and irradiated with fast neutron fluences of 3.48 × 10²² n/cm²) has been investigated using small-angle neutron scattering. It has been found that, in the irradiated material, the volume fraction of scattering structures (pores) with a radius of 40–50 nm significantly decreases, which is compensated to a large extent by an increase in the total fraction of these objects with a radius of less than 20 nm. The results of neutron scattering investigations correlate with the data of mechanical tests of the irradiated alloys and with the changes in their elemental composition.     

Normal persistent currents

This article reviews recent advances in mesoscopic physics, namely experimental and theoretical investigations of persistent (equilibrium) currents in normal metal rings. While theory and experiment are consistent in the ballistic regime, theoretical studies so far have not been able to account for the unexpectedly huge currents observed experimentally in disordered (diffusive) samples, in which the elastic mean free path is much less than the circumference of the rings.     

Recent neutron scattering research and development in India

A national facility for neutron beam research is operated at the research reactor Dhruva at Trombay in India. The research activities involve various nanoscale structural, dynamical and magnetic investigations on materials of scientific interest and technological importance. Thermal neutron has certain special properties that enable, e.g., selective viewing of parts of an organic molecule, hydrogen or water in materials, investigations on minerals and ceramics, and microscopic and mesoscopic characterization of bulk samples. The national facility comprises of eight neutron-scattering spectrometers in the reactor hall, and another four spectrometers in the neutron-guide laboratory. In addition, a neutron radiography facility and a detector development laboratory are located at APSARA reactor. All the instruments including the detectors and electronics have been developed within BARC. A new powder diffractometer (PD-3) is being developed by UGC-DAE-CSR. The national facility is utilized in collaboration with various universities and other institutions.     

Matrix analysis of neutron spin-echo

We describe the general action of a neutron spin-turn coil by a rotation matrix, and the nett action of a sequence of spin-turns is then evaluated as the product of the relevant matrices. In the ideal neutron spin-echo configuration, the spin-turn sequence used is shown to have a resultant action described by the unit matrix if there is only elastic scattering, so that an initially polarized beam is transmitted with unchanged polarization. This is spin-echo focussing. Measurement of changes in the final polarization then provides information on the sample dynamics.Spin-echo focussing permits high resolution to be coupled with a broad incident wavelength spread. We calculate in detail the effect of this polychromaticity on the spinturn coils involved, and present experimental confirmation. General spin-echo configurations are then considered. Finally, we take into account the effect of spin-flip scattering from spin-incoherent samples, and show that spin-flip effects may be decoupled from dynamic effects in the analysis of spin-echo intensity.The techniques evolved are relevant to both monochromatic and polychromatic spinecho spectrometry. Emphasis has been placed on practical aspects of establishing correct spin-turn conditions and analysing spectrometer response in terms of relative transmitted intensity.